


Exit via Pegasus

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-24
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2019-03-23 09:36:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13784742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Zelda finally brings Justin home from Dark Core. Zelda belongs to ZDusk.





	Exit via Pegasus

A lot had happened in the past few minutes- Zelda and the Soul Riders (well, the ones on Jorvik, anyway) had ridden up an eerily-quiet oil rig, jumping at every shadow and splash of water, skin prickling and senses alert for any guards, only to find no guards at all on the oil rig. They’d allied with Mr Sands, though Zelda had wondered at his true motives. Maybe he did care about Justin (and honestly, who wouldn’t?) but he was evil, he definitely had ulterior motives. It could be a trick. And then the alarm had gone off, drawing the vast majority of the guards and all of the Generals back inside, and the Soul Riders had ridden onto the relatively-unguarded helipad where Zelda had once tried to convince Justin to come home but had ended up catching the little boat back to the fishing village with her heart broken and bleeding at her feet.

And now, as the battle raged on between Lisa and Alex and the goons, Zelda only had eyes for the young man stuffed inside an oil barrel perched precariously on the end of the plank. Her heart pounded as her eyes widened, and she opened her mouth to speak, to cry out. She raised her hand, but was unable to move as Justin’s struggles to get out of the barrel tilted it further over the edge of the plank.

“Justin!” Zelda screamed, her heart slamming to life and jerking her body into sudden action. She clutched at Phantom’s reins, digging her heels into his sides, and her horse reared. But then, he spoke in a voice that she hadn’t heard from him before. It was a voice both ancient and young, and resonating with power, with something within her. It terrified her as much as it brought tears to her eyes, just with the intensity of the feeling.

“When I’m with you, my powers awake,” said Phantom, sounding more like a true Soul Steed than he ever had before. Zelda felt something brush her leg, and she looked down to see black feathers spreading out from a pair of the largest wings that she had ever seen. She gasped, shifting her legs slightly so as not to impede Phantom’s movement. Before Zelda could manage to form words, Phantom sprang into action, galloping, as if in slow motion, across the helipad, past the guards glimmering with Soul Strike, and then onto the plank. Zelda’s heart thudded in her chest, but she somehow felt safe with Phantom. He’d never hurt her, or put her in any danger unless he was absolutely certain that they’d make it out alive or at least relatively unscathed.

Justin seemed to fall in slow motion too, his hands grasping at the rain, trying to grab onto something, anything, to stop his fall. The barrel seemed to be trapping his legs, and the whole thing seemed to be happening in slow motion. Maybe it was the adrenaline. It probably was. Zelda held her hand out as Phantom dived down towards the water. Her fingers touched Justin’s for a moment, but then, just as she thought she had him, his fingers slipped away.

“No!” Zelda screamed, leaning further over. Phantom flew closer, his massive wings kicking up ripples in the water that crashed against the pylons. Zelda squinted her eyes against the rain. Unable to see, she heard a large splash, and gave an agonised sob. Was it too late? Had Justin plummeted to his doom anyway?

But no. That was a hand around her wrist. A large hand, slightly calloused from hard work, but thinner than it had been. And yet, the strength was there. Zelda opened her eyes, and gave a laugh of delight to see the drowned-rat figure of Justin treading water as he clung desperately to her arm.

“Climb aboard,” said Zelda, her tears of relief mixing with the rain. Justin grunted as Zelda hauled him up, and Phantom shifted his wings.

“Hold tight,” Phantom warned, and rose back into the sky with a few mighty flaps of his wings. Justin clung tightly to Zelda, and he was so cold, but his touch warmed her. She wanted to turn around and hug him, but that would have to wait. It was enough to have him clutching her so tightly, pressed against her back, his face buried in the back of her neck.

As soon as Phantom touched down on the barge, Zelda dismounted so that she could catch Justin, who fell from Phantom’s back without her as an anchor.

“Justin,” Zelda whispered, trying to hold him up. But his legs collapsed under him, and Zelda felt terror grip her as she saw how pale he was. “Someone help!”

“Wow, he’s really weak,” said Linda, jogging over to them. She took off her green raincoat and spread it over Justin, not that it would do much good for him now.

“Get him inside,” said Lisa, finally arriving and dismounting Starshine. “He needs to be warm and dry.”

“Okay, got it,” said Zelda, taking hold of Justin’s wrists and trying to pull him up. “C’mon, you’ve lost weight but I’m not that strong.” Justin said something unintelligible, and his eyes rolled back in his head.

“I’ll help,” said Alex, barging past Lisa. “I’m the muscle in this group, after all.”

“And none of the horses can fit through the doors,” said Zelda. She heard running footsteps, and swore.

“Actually, I should probably steer the barge,” said Alex, and jogged over to the controls, starting the barge up and steering it away from the oil rig.

“Good plan,” said Lisa, nodding. “Well, c’mon, you big lug.” She bent and lifted Justin by his legs. “You get his arms.” Zelda did so, grunting a little at how heavy he was. “We need to warm him up, I’m no doctor but his lips are turning mildly blue.”

“’I’m no doctor’ says the healer,” said Zelda with a scoff, walking backwards towards the interior part of the barge. Phantom walked over to one of the open shipping containers, shaking water off of his wings before entering. Zelda smiled at the sight, and knew that she’d marvel over his new additions later. For now, she concentrated only on getting Justin somewhere warm and dry, where she could look after him.

There was a little cot inside, like one would use when camping, and Lisa and Zelda laid Justin down on it. 

“I’ll go find some towels or blankets or something,” said Lisa, walking over to a door and searching for a linen cupboard of some sort.

“Okay, I’ll just stay here with him,” said Zelda. Looking at Justin, she felt tears sting her eyes. He still looked like a drowned rat, and he was freezing cold to the touch and pale. There were dark circles under his closed eyes, which looked bruised from lack of sleep, and he looked thinner. Not from lack of nourishment, but, judging by his appearance, from not wanting to eat. Zelda pressed her lips together and peeled Justin’s shirt off, remembering that it was best to remove the clothing of people who were this cold if said clothing was sodden. He smelled like the ocean and oil, nothing like the horsey scent that Justin had had before. In that short time that Zelda had known him before she’d sent him off to Dark Core. Not knowing what else to do after removing the rest of his clothing save for his underwear, Zelda began to rub Justin’s skin, and wondered if she should press her own body against his for warmth. Maybe once Lisa returned with the blankets or towels, if she found any.

“That’s a good idea,” said Lisa when she finally returned, setting the towels down beside Zelda. “I found these, they’re part of the emergency kit. I guess Dark Core couldn’t supply emergency thermal blankets, but it’ll do.”

“It’s better than nothing,” said Zelda, taking a towel and drying off Justin’s skin. “See if you can find a blanket too.”

“Alright, I’ll try my best,” said Lisa, disappearing again. As Zelda rubbed at Justin’s skin quite firmly, she was pleased to see that pink colour slowly bled into Justin’s skin. He was still cold, but not quite as worringly as before.

“Well, at least you’re not in danger of turning into an icicle anytime soon,” said Zelda. “It’d be great if we could light a fire or something, but that’s probably not the best idea on an oil barge, of all things.” The ship smelled faintly of oil, too.

“Found one,” said Lisa when she finally returned with a blanket. “There is a captain’s quarters here, apparently. It’s a bit rough but it’ll do.” Zelda took the scratchy blanket with a grateful grin and spread it over Justin.

“Thank you,” said Zelda, tucking it around him. “That’ll help him a lot.”

“Glad to help,” said Lisa.

“Now, the only thing we’re missing is a fire,” said Zelda, looking at her handiwork. “But, y’know, oil barge.”

“I still don’t know enough about this new Healing Flame ability, so I’d probably accidentally light him on fire if I tried warming him up that way,” said Lisa.

“Yeah, please don’t do that,” said Zelda. Justin still looked a little cold, even with the blanket tucked snugly around him. “Turn around, I’m going to do something.”

“Gee, warming him up with sex, huh?” said Lisa. Zelda blushed.

“No, you pervert, I’m just going to warm him up with body heat!” Zelda snapped, though she was pleased to see that Lisa did turn around. She stripped out of her sodden clothes, then climbed onto the cot with Justin, tucking the blanket around herself and wrapping her arms around her crush, pressing her face into his neck. She could still only smell the ocean on him, but that was fine. His regular smell would return once he got back to work, she knew. She smiled at the closeness of him, calmed by his regular breathing and steady heartbeat. This mission, at least, had been a success. And Justin was finally on his way home.


End file.
